Barcelona tops the 2018 list of the highest-paid sports teams in the world with $13.8 million average annual salary

Barcelona returns to the No. 1 spot in the rankings for the first time since 2012.
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FC Barcelona is the new highest-paid sports team in the world, with players making an average of $13.8 million (€12.2 million) during the 2018-19 season. Barcelona returns to the No. 1 spot in the rankings for the first time since 2012.

This data comes from Sporting Intelligence's annual "Global Sports Salaries Survey," which looks at the first-team pay for 349 teams across eight different sports in 18 different leagues around the world. All in all, these teams average a combined $22.2 billion in wages annually.

Last year, the Oklahoma City Thunder topped the list with an average annual player salary of $9.3 million during the 2017-18 season. This year, the Thunder clock in at No. 3 in the world rankings but still best all other NBA teams. Of the 25 highest-paid teams in the world, 17 are from the NBA.

In other major North American sports leagues, the San Francisco Giants (No. 27 overall) are the highest-paid Major League Baseball team, the Jacksonville Jaguars (No. 85 overall) top NFL teams, and the Los Angeles Kings (No. 82 overall) are the highest-paid NHL team.

Additionally, Toronto FC (No. 214 overall) tops the list for MLS teams and the Toronto Argonauts (No. 321 overall) leads all CFL teams. The Phoenix Mercury (No. 331 overall) is the highest-paid team in the WNBA — which is the only women's sports league to be featured on the list.

Here are the highest-paid teams in the world based on average salary for their players.